14
votes
Accepted
Why are superuser permissions needed to acess /data partition?
First to clarify only root (UID 0) isn't enough to get access to /data at least since Android 5. Discretionary Access Control based on traditional UNIX UIDs/GIDs alone doesn't fulfill the needs of ...
- 19.9k
9
votes
How can I view the Android internal partition table?
Old thread but found something nobody else has mentioned... just in case anyone finds it useful.
ls -la /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name
The directory contains named symlinks to all the partitons.
9
votes
Why is there no option to choose size in TWRP's resize partition feature?
First to clarify, Resize Partition is different than Resize File System, TWRP provides latter option. It resizes the ext2/3/4 filesystem to the size of partition it's created on. Filesystem size can ...
- 19.9k
9
votes
Accepted
Why do partitions get unmounted automatically after some time?
SHORT ANSWER
Go to Magisk Settings and set Mount Namespace Mode to Global once for all. In SuperSU app, disable Mount Namespace Separation.
OR
For one time solution, use this command instead:
~$ su -...
- 19.9k
8
votes
How can I view the Android internal partition table?
You can use fdisk via busybox on a droid. So, assuming you have the busybox binary on your rom, and it's on your path, the command would simply be:
busybox fdisk [the various fdisk options...]
...
- 181
8
votes
What special privileges "/system/xbin/su" does have w.r.t. root access?
Since Android is based on Linux kernel, getting root access by executing /system/xbin/su - like one can do on a Linux system - used to work in good old days but not now. The story is a bit twisted.
...
- 19.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Can we explain Android in terms analogous to a PC?
Can we explains android terms with its analog with PC[?]
We can try but it will restrict the expansion of our understanding since certain parts would never fit the analogy we're familiar in with ...
7
votes
Accepted
How to wipe OS partition in TWRP?
Let’s start with a list of standard internal memory partitions on
Android phones and tablets. These are:
/boot
/system
/recovery
/data
/cache
/misc
In addition, there are the SD card ...
- 2,243
7
votes
Accepted
How to take full image backup of partitions or eMMC?
Yes you can boot in TWRP if bootloader is unlocked:
fastboot boot /path/to/twrp.img
Then you can simply dd whole eMMC or individual partitions. You need some extra memory (on external SD card) to ...
- 19.9k
7
votes
Accepted
How many mmcblk devices is normal?
There is nothing abnormal in this case. They is only one device in the first preformatted text, which is /dev/block/mmcblk0 (just like /dev/sda in Linux distros). The rest are the partitions within ...
- 24.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Where is the baseband firmware stored and how does Android interact with it?
Is the firmware really stored in another eMMC than the Android firmware?
No. Baseband firmware, kernel and userspace Android are all stored on the same eMMC (there might be some exception but I don't ...
- 19.9k
5
votes
Accepted
What is rootfs? Can I make persistent changes to my device's root filesystem?
What is rootfs?
It's an initramfs. Basically, it's a prepopulated RAM drive. It's prepopulated with some content at boot time, usually from a cpio archive which has been compiled into the kernel.
...
5
votes
Do most Android device use GPT as their partitioning scheme?
If I'm not wrong, GPT is pretty common. It's pretty advanced format than MBR. On my KitKat, they have 36 partitions. GPT has features like a backup partition table and naming/flag, and supports larger ...
- 211
5
votes
Accepted
It's there a way to get /system partition permanent read/write access even after reboot?
You don't need to make /system permanently R/W. You just need to mount it as R/W at every boot. So I'm providing you with a few options to mount /system as R/W at boot automatically, but do note that ...
- 7,666
5
votes
Accepted
How to run "parted" command in terminal emulator on my android smartphone
Note: This is applicable to Qualcomm SoC with eMMC (block device accessible through FTL). Not tested on MTK or other chipsets (paths may differ) or the devices with raw NAND/MTD memory.
PARTED
How ...
- 19.9k
5
votes
Manually create A/B partitions
Android uses GUID Partition Table (GPT) as its partitioning system which is possible to modify using tools like parted and gdisk. But there are a few constraints I can think of, other than the OTA ...
- 19.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Editing fstab to mount /data from a different partition
As you already expected, the way your question is phrased it looks like an XY problem: There are different ways to achieve your goal (mounting /data, /cache etc. from a different partition), while ...
Izzy♦
- 90.8k
4
votes
Resize /system partition of Galaxy S 2
In my case, I needed a cross-platform solution since I use Linux. Here's what worked for me:
Back everything up. This will wipe everything on the phone, including the internal SD card.
Download:
A ...
- 2,432
4
votes
Link2SD error- "mount: Operation not supported on transparent endpoint"
Try with an ext4 partition.
From www.link2sd.info/faq. I had the same issue and this fixed it.
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
How to resize the /data F2FS partition
As of today (May 30, 2016), the F2FS file system doesn't support shrinking. If it does by the time someone reads this, just let me know in the comments.
The solution is then to delete and re-create ...
- 444
4
votes
Wipe system partition
You should. That is a "clean flash" and is normally recommended in installation instructions. This ensures that the ROM is written on a clean slate
At times, like in the case of "nightly" ROMs or ...
- 40.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Is my Android device booting into a "stealth" partition?
Seems I’ve found the answer at https://andi34.github.io/faq.html
Quote:
I can't change my rom, wipe / format doesn't work. Nothing changed after flashing with Odin.
16 GB Tab 2 have a known ...
- 201
3
votes
Accepted
Wiped System Partition... No OS.. How can I recover it back?
Download the following file (J730GMTCE2AQJ1_TCE) from samfirmware.com: direct link
Extract (unzip) the firmware file
Download Odin v3.12.7
Open Odin v3.12.7 (make sure to Run as administrator)
Reboot ...
- 369
3
votes
Does an Android Factory Reset also clear the cache partition?
Yes, a factory reset clear's the cache, dalvik cache, along with the user data.
<string name="factory_reset1">Wipes Data, Cache, and Dalvik</string>
The information on factory reset is ...
- 2,568
3
votes
Accepted
How to create and use multiple partitions on external SD card with different filesystems (Ext4, exFAT, NTFS)?
A few points on four partitions:
Dedicated first partition exFAT or NTFS or FAT32 (whichever Android permits and gives optimum performance) to store apps, photos and media.
For apps consider ...
- 19.9k
3
votes
/data's data is garbled in TWRP. How to decrypt
I was in a similar issue on a Nokia running a stock ROM. Basically Magisk module killed my phone and the TWRP won't allow decryption.
I was able to boot successfully to system again by.. Removing ...
- 2,417
3
votes
Accepted
Why can I view files from "Internal Storage" WITHOUT entering password either in OrangeFox recovery or via USB cable on PC?
The newly flashed ROM was xiaomi.eu 12.0.4. I then tried various modifications of it, but all of them expose the same issue over and over again. After I flashed Lineage OS, the behavior was as ...
2
votes
Resizing the /data partition (rooted)
Sorry for the necropost, but there is and always has been a way to do this if a user wants to. The previous comments are correct, there are more "hidden" partitions present that are not easily seen or ...
- 21
2
votes
How to restore an image of android partition from my linux PC
The initial adb pull/push by-partition-id pattern in the question has merit for recovery environments. Though I didn't test for the whole of the flash ("mmcblk0"), a backup and restore by ...
- 151
2
votes
Resize /system partition of Galaxy S 2
Here's what's probably an even better way: https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT
It's as easy as flashing a zip and preserves data. Requires TWRP recovery and patience. Worked first time for me on an S2 (...
- 151
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible